Harry Potter and the Inheritance
by parchmentandpencils
Summary: Harry receives a letter which triggers his inheritance too early and Harry goes back in time - where he becomes the new DADA teacher. He has to figure out a way to return without letting anyone know who he really is. Will he succeed? Rated T just in case.
1. The Letters from TRL

**Summary: Harry receives a letter which triggers his inheritance too early and Harry goes back in time - where he becomes the new DADA teacher. He has to figure out a way to return without letting anyone know who he really is. Will he succeed? (BTW, Sirius is alive)**.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, newly 16 year old wizard, was sitting cross-legged in his bed, munching on a piece of chocolate fudge cake, courtesy of Mrs Weasley. He was staring out the window of his room which was thrown open while the owls left from delivering his presents. A few seconds later, Harry saw another, unfamiliar owl fly in, drop a letter and fly off. Intrigued, Harry slit it open with the butterknife that lay on a napkin after cutting the cake, and pulled out the letter.

**Harry Potter**, it read.

**You don't know me, but I know you. I am also from the future. (**Harry scoffed.) **If you are as sceptical as I know you are, I will tell you three things.**

**1) The passcodes to a map are "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" and "Mischief managed".**

**2) The four Marauders are James Potter, known as Prongs, Sirius Black, known as Padfoot, Remus Lupin, known as Moony, and Peter Pettigrew, known as Wormtail and a traitor to boot.**

**3) Your patronus is a stag, Hermione Granger's is an otter, and Luna Lovegood's is a hare.**

**I also know that the war is coming up, so you need to trigger your inheritance one year early, so you can train up to fight the Dark Lord. To do this, slit your palm with a knife, and let seven drops of blood flow into the enclosed potion, swirl it and drink. This will not only trigger your inheritance, but take you to wherever you need to be to train. Hurry, you must do this before 1am on your 16th birthday. Good ****luck.**

**TRL. **

It was a strange letter but Harry also decided to trust this person, whoever they were. He first grabbed his wand, and trunk and sat on top of his trunk. He spilt seven drops of blood into the potion and drank. At once, a searing pain burst to life in every bone in his body, and he let out a blood-curdling scream. However, any onlookers would only hear it for a fraction of a second, for a bright light enveloped his body and he disappeared, semi-conscious.

_Break_.

Harry clamped down on his tongue, drawing blood. He had not realised that he was no longer at the Dursleys, nor that blood was dribbling out the side of his mouth. He also did not realise he had landed at the front of the Great Hall in a very different Hogwarts, and that everyone was staring at him in different degrees of shock. The teachers leapt up first, Poppy Pomfrey at the head, and began to check him hurriedly. The students were next, chattering openly at seeing someone in this level of pain, because they needed to make sense of it all too.

Harry's senses became sharper as the pain dulled. "Wha-"

"Who are you, what are you doing here, and why do you look as if you've just come out of battle?" Albus Dumbledore said first, his eyes glittering with anger and fear for his students. He radiated protectiveness, yet anger as well. Harry just lay there in shock, but his brain was whirring. It was obvious that he was not in his time anymore, and sitting up, he noticed that there was one less teacher in the horde than there should be. _The DADA teacher._

"I came to apply for the defense position, and I don't know what happened, I'm normally fine with Portkeys."

"Are you sure you're fine, as we'd better take this up to my office?" Dumbledore asked.

"Fine," Harry muttered, only noticing the students gawping at the scene.

They walked up in a solemn silence, teachers flanking them and taking sideways glances at him, as if he were about to whirl round and avada kedavra them all. Which Harry seriously felt like doing, if they didn't stop staring. It was bad enough back home, for Merlin's sake!

When they got to Dumbledore's office, he stared seriously at Harry, and he felt as if he were a first year getting scolded.

"Who are you?" was the first question that came out of Dumbledore's mouth.

Harry thought quickly. "Harry Remington," he replied. After all, people were least likely to link him to Remus. Jameson was too obvious, as were Evans and Rettop.

"Why are you here?"

"I want to take up the defense professor's position." Plus, he could train in the room of requirement, and the library was available to him. Even the restricted section, if he were to become a professor.

"Why were you having a- seizure, should I say- when you arrived?"

"I honestly don't know, I've never had a reaction to magical transport before."

Dumbledore placed a sheet of paper in front of him. "This is a short quiz to find out if you're qualified to become a teacher here. You may begin."

Harry opened the paper apprehensively. The first question read, _what is a boggart, and how would you repel one? _Harry could have laughed. This was easy! In high spirits, he finished the paper easily and handed it to Dumbledore.

The old man looked it over and stroked his beard in thought. "Well, you seem to be our most qualified defense professor in a while. I expect great things from you, Professor Remington. Welcome to Hogwarts." With that, they shook hands.

_Break_.

Harry was lying awake in the newly-assigned defense chambers. He tossed and turned for a while, then decided to get out of bed and unpack. Besides, it was almost 5:30, which was the time he usually got up at the Dursley's anyway.

Harry then realised that he did not have a set textbook for all years, but resolved to ask Dumbledore later. He pushed that thought out of his mind, and set to work unpacking his things and laying them out. He decided to tackle the classroom first. He put his stationery in the drawers, and put the Sneakoscope on his desk, as well as a picture of he, Ron and Hermione. He also put a photo of Ginny on the desk. Not many knew it, but Harry had secretly asked Ginny to become his girlfriend. She had agreed. He decided against a photo of James and Lily, since they would be his students. He then took out an unopened letter. Wait, a _letter?_

It read, **Dear Harry,**

**No doubt you have found yourself in the past. You have arrived in the year 1974, when your parents are in their fourth year.**

**James, Sirius, Remus and Peter have not made the map yet, so your secret will remain safe. You will spend a year at the school, with the room of requirement as your training base. Just ask for Harry Potter's training room.**

**As a side note, I love your surname! Remington. I will tell you a snippet about myself. Remus Lupin was my dad.**

**Anyway, I have enclosed a parchment that you can write on and I can reply. You can ask anything, but please remember I need to eat and sleep too, so don't ask too many questions. Besides, Aunt Hermione will have my head if I reveal too much about the future.**

**Good luck!**

**TRL.**

Harry's mind was whirling. Remus had a child? But then he noticed the 'was'. Remus _died? _A tear rolled down his cheek in sorrow and he wiped it away hurriedly.

Aunt Hermione? Did he marry her? Or Ron? It was more likely to be Ron, especially because he was in a relationship with Ginny anyway.

He was in 1974 as well! His parents' fourth year. The thought of Peter the traitor turned his stomach, but on the other hand he hadn't done anything yet. So they could have a clean slate. He could also see his parents! Although Lily was likely to be Snape's friend. Snape wasn't yet the greasy git from the future, so Harry was willing to give him a chance too. He could learn more about his parents anyway, and that was most important.

Harry returned to decorating and left the classroom as a happier teen. A teen who would be teaching defense. Who hadn't yet graduated Hogwarts. Damn. How would he do this? The only thing he knew was a patronus charm, and nothing else. He collected a book, read, and tried out spells with his matured magical core until he got them under control and he could do most sixth year spells with ease, and some seventh year ones too. He glanced at the clock, and jumped up when he realised it was 7:30 am. He then headed to the Great Hall to face his first day of teaching.

**Alright. My first proper fanfic. I want to know if I'm good or an absolutely rubbish writer, so please review!**

**Luna Lupin-Black. **


	2. Boggarts and Training

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

_-00000000000-_

As Harry walked into the Great Hall, all conversations stopped and everyone openly stared. He could just make out the whispers: "It's that guy who landed in the Hall yesterday with blood coming out of his mouth" was the key item of talk.

Harry kept walking, and when he got to the front of the hall he asked Dumbledore if he could say something.

"Of course, my dear boy!" he exclaimed with that annoying twinkle in his eye.

Harry turned to the Hall. "Good morning everyone. I am Professor Harry Remington, your new defense against the dark arts teacher. I'd just like to say that yesterday was just a bad reaction to a form of magical transport, and was nothing serious. Thank you!"

The chatter resumed at its normal volume and Harry sat down, satisfied between Professor McGonagall and Professor Sinistra.

"Hi, Harry Remington," he introduced himself, smiling winningly as he had seen his father do.

"I'm Minerva McGonagall, and this crazy blushing woman is Aurora Sinistra." It was true. Sinistra was indeed blushing to the tips of her hair. Harry laughed and turned to his breakfast.

"Pleasure."

The rest of breakfast passed peacefully while they watched the students. The clink of cutlery on china was rhythmic and soothing. All of a sudden, the Slytherin table sprouted lion fur, and four boys at the Gryffindor table were evidently trying to hold their laughter in.

"BLACK, POTTER, LUPIN, PETTIGREW!" McGonagall shouted.

She stormed over to the table. "50 points from Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table groaned, but could barely keep back their sniggers after seeing the Slytherins looking like they had lion manes.

Harry turned to Sinistra. "Are they always like this?"

"Yep," she replied nonchalantly. "There's at least one prank at a mealtime. You'd think that they'd start checking their food, but then again it's an insult to house elves. The only exception was yesterday, when you had your grand entrance" (Harry blushed) "and that was only because they were all in too much shock to activate the prank. This was probably yesterday's prank they intended to pull, and they'll probably pull two at, say, dinner today."

Harry groaned. "I'd better go and set up my classroom, I have them first today."

She clucked sympathetically. "Check for any pranks."

Harry nodded his assent, and then left. The journey to his classroom was spent in contemplative thought. He was only sixteen! They were two years younger than him. He wasn't sure if he could do this. And if someone asked his age, he wasn't sure what he'd say. Eighteen, perhaps?

Harry belatedly realised he hadn't asked Dumbledore about the textbooks, but as the noise level in the hallway began to rise, he supposed he'd better ask the students instead. He didn't have Hedwig with him to owl a request to Flourish and Blotts, so he'd have to use the school owls.

Harry, with a flick of his wand, opened the door. The Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years piled in and took their seats. Harry stood at the front and began his first lesson ever. He took the register and began to speak.

"Welcome to fourth year defense. My name is Professor Remington. Now first, I have to ask you, do you have a textbook, and if so, which one?"

Lily Evans raised her hand. "Yes Miss-"

"Evans, sir. And we were told to buy the standard book of defense, grade four."

"Thank you, Miss Evans. Now what have you covered?"

Remus Lupin raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr -"

"Lupin. We've only covered a few things, since the previous teachers didn't really teach us anything."

"Have you covered Boggarts yet?"

The class shook their heads.

Harry growled softly. How were they ever going to learn constant vigilance by the time they got out of school? He then shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm channeling Moody," he said under his breath.

"Right, well... Hogwarts, is there a boggart anywhere we can practice on?"

The floor seemed to shine, and then a chest popped into existence. It rattled a bit, and Harry mentally thanked whoever was listening that something was going right. He looked at the class, who were looking at him, gobsmacked.

"You know, you can talk to the castle. She's sentient."

The class were still looking gobsmacked, so Harry produced sparks that went off like a firecracker from his wand. The class snapped to attention.

"Now, does anyone know what a boggart does?"

Harry stopped trying to use names. He pointed at Bellatrix Black. "Yes?"

"Miss Black, Sir, and they transform into whatever it thinks will frighten you the most."

"Five points to Slytherin, Miss Black. That is exactly right. I once heard about a boggart who tried to frighten two people at once, and turned into half a slug." The class laughed. "Now the charm to repel a boggart is Riddikulus."

"Riddikulus!" the class repeated.

Now, when you say the charm, you have to focus on something that amuses you. Picture it in your mind clearly, and say the charm. Then see the results. A boggart is destroyed by laughter, so form a queue... From here... And then if you laugh, you won't destroy the boggart. Now line up, and let's tackle this boggart."

The lesson went fine, until no one stepped forward. Harry was then stood in front of the boggart, which instead of turning into a dementor, turned into... The Triwizard Cup.

Immediately, memories flashed before Harry's eyes: _Bow to death, Harry... Did anyone tell _you _the cup was a Portkey?... CRUCIO!... You have been taught how to duel?... Bow to death... Wands out, do you reckon?_ The memories came faster and faster, and Harry banished them out of his mind with all his mental strength, the one that helped him defeat the imperious curse.

"RIDDIKULUS!" Harry shouted. The cup turned into an innocent goblet which tumbled to the floor with a clang.

Breathing heavily, Harry turned to the class. "Class dismissed."

As soon as the class left, or so Harry thought, he sank to the floor, tears leaking from his eyes subconsciously. Harry closed his eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry, Cedric."

A lilting voice came from the doorway. "Are you alright, Professor?" Harry raised sorrowful eyes to the doorway, belatedly realising there was moisture on his cheeks. He sighed and wiped off the tears that had left a glittering trail of silver down his cheeks which were flushed. He saw Lily Evans, his to-be-mother.

"Y-Yes, I'll be fine. Miss Evans, right?"

"Yes and okay." She ran out of the classroom and left Harry to his own devices.

Harry stood up, and pushed Cedric out of his mind again for the time being. "You know, pushing sorrow out of your mind is really bad for you?"

Harry whirled around for who had spoken, but couldn't find anyone. "On the wall, you nitwit."

Harry turned around again, and was confronted with a portrait, that he was sure wasn't there before, of two men. One had grey-green eyes, black hair and a goatee, and the other had red, curly hair and a bushy beard.

"No one ever notices us," the red haired one grumped.

"That's because we always stay hidden, Godric."

"Er... Who are you?"

"Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin at your service."

There was a thump as Harry fainted.

_-000000000-_As Harry came to, he looked up at the portrait in which Godric was sniggering and Salazar was looking bored. He jumped up.

"I'm so sorry. It was just a bit of a shock."

"We're aware," Salazar groused.

"Why did you decide to show yourself to me?" Harry asked curiously.

"Because we were asked to help you in your training," Godric replied. "Now, if you open our portrait, the hinge is at the left hand side, there is a passageway to Rowena's Chambers. You may know it as the room of requirement. You can train in there. We were told to tell you to make it change into the classroom where the DA was held, whatever that means."

Harry opened the portrait after nodding his head in acknowledgement, and set off down the dank, musty smelling passageway. It ended out next to the statue of Barnabas the Barmy, and Harry obediently thought of the DA classroom. As he entered, a portrait of Godric and Salazar was sitting there already.

"Welcome, Mister Potter," Salazar said.

"How do you know my name?" Harry asked, shocked.

"The castle told us." Godric replied.

"As I was saying," Salazar grumbled. "Your training will take place here. Now, let's start with running around this room 20 times..."

Harry was completely exhausted when he finally took a shower and went down to dinner. He gave a tired nod to the other teachers, who looked at him in bemusement. He waved it off, and dug into his dinner. He downed the pepper up potion that the elves popped up for him, thanking them mentally. After that, he went to his chambers and promptly fell asleep at his desk, trying to formulate his lesson plans. However, the next day, he awoke in his bed, shrugged confusedly, and got up to start his second day in the past.

_-000000000-_

**Please review! **


	3. Revelations

Disclaimer (why do we use these, again?): Harry Potter, unfortunately, is owned by JK Rowling.

TRIGGER WARNING: ATTEMPTED SUICIDE MENTION - it will be highlighted.

"bleh" Normal speech.

"_bleh_" Parseltongue

-0000000-

Harry was woken up the next day by a klaxon next to his ear. He jumped, grabbed his wand, and started firing stunners round the width of his room. He was just firing his last stunner when his brain finally caught up to him and he heard hysterical laughter emanating from one of the portraits above the fireplace.

"I swear, Godric, never wake me up like that again!" Harry growled, and sat up to begin his day. "Merlin, if you weren't a portrait, I'd hex you."

"Who says you can't?" Salazar asked slyly.

"_What do I have to do?_" Harry asked in parseltongue, eager for some revenge.

"_You can do it only in Parseltongue because it's a language closer to Magic than English_," Salazar lectured. "_Therefore you can pass almost all defenses in Parseltongue, including the ones in a portrait. So just hex Godric in Parsel spells and you shall be fine._"

An almost evil grin spread itself across Harry's face at those words. He rolled up his sleeves and thoughtfully tapped his chin.

"WAIT! What are you doing?" Godric shouted. But it was too late. Harry's Parsel spells hit Godric at a speed hard to dodge. They were harmless, but caused... Interesting effects.

Needless to say, Harry Potter was a happy man as he went down to breakfast, but Godric Gryffindor was not.

_Break_

Harry was having great fun lecturing the first year students who didn't look like they knew the first thing about defense against the dark arts, even the pureblood first years, who had all claimed to have been tutored by their parents since the age of five, but really didn't know anything, if the looks of complete awe on their faces were anything to go by.

Just then, a house elf popped in. "Mip has a note for Professor Harry Remington, sir!" it squeaked, and popped out again.

The class was dumbfounded, and a few students had let out small screams at the sight of the house elf.

"Just read a bit of your textbook, class," Harry murmured, as he unfolded the parchment and read the note.

_Come to the hospital wing after class for the mandatory health check for all of the teachers._

_Poppy Pomfrey._

Harry raised his eyebrows at the note and leaned on his desk to watch the class read. The class read until the bell rang, and then filed out of the classroom to the Great Hall. Harry headed in the other direction, however. He had a health check to have.

_Break_

Once Harry reached the hospital wing, he sat on a bed and called out for Madam Pomfrey. She came towards Harry hurriedly.

"Ah, Professor Remington. You're here for your health check, I see. Now let me just cast a diagnostic spell on you and your health history should be noted."

She ran her wand over him and said the diagnostic spell, which, Harry noted, only caused a slight tingling before it faded away. Madam Pomfrey plucked a sheet of parchment out of the air and read over it, before handing him a couple of potions.

"Well, Professor, you seem in perfect health, apart from a slight case of malnutrition and sleep terrors. The orange potion is a multivitamin supplement, and the purple one is a non-addictive dreamless sleep potion that will also help you lock away the bad dreams in your mind, so after a while, you won't need the purple potion anymore."

Harry noticed the sheet was more filled than Pomfrey let on, and when she strode out of the infirmary with the sheet still clutched in her hand, he followed her stealthily to see what she would do.

To Harry's horror, she headed to Dumbledore's office. He swiftly applied a disillusionment charm on himself and slipped onto the revolving staircase behind Pomfrey. From there, he snuck into the office behind her too, and stood in a corner to see how this would play out.

"Albus, I have just come from doing Professor Remington's mandatory checkup, and... I don't even know how to put this, just look at it yourself." At that, she handed over Harry's results.

Dumbledore read the sheet, and seemed to grow paler and paler. Pomfrey, it seemed, couldn't restrain herself any longer.

"Neglect, Albus! His growth has been stunted as well! Whoever raised him obviously didn't have his best interests in mind! It also says he'd been starved since the age of 1 and a half... I don't want him going back. Then we have the ages of 11 onwards. He was bitten by a basilisk fang for Merlin's sake! Please talk to him, I don't think I'm the right person to do so."

Harry gulped inaudibly. This had already happened in the future, Sirius had tried to talk to him but Harry had never opened up. The other teachers (with the exception of Snape, of course) had tried to talk to him too, but Harry's unresponsiveness had irritated the teachers majorly. He tuned back in to the conversation.

—TRIGGER WARNING START—

"Albus," Pomfrey was saying softly. "He tried... he slit his wrists, Albus."

Dumbledore let out a soft groan. "We can't have a member of staff actively trying to harm themselves. I will talk to him, Poppy."

Harry was lost in his memories by this point. He remembered vividly the day when he tried to end it all.

_*Flashback*_

_Harry had woken up shouting Cedric's name. It was the summer between fourth and fifth year. Harry desperately hoped that none of his... relatives had woken up. He lay still, listening intently. Soon enough, Uncle Vernon came blustering along the hallway to Harry's cramped room._

_"BOY! If I hear ONE more noise from you, you'd wish you'd never been born!" Satisfied, Vernon waddled back to bed, and his snoring was heard within minutes._

_Just then, Pig came zooming through the window, a note tied to his leg. Harry unfolded it and read, becoming simultaneously angry, sad and lonely._

_**Harry, **it read._

**_I hope you're having a good holiday! We've been stuck here since the start of the holidays, but I think Hermione said that you're going to join us soon._**

**_I'll see you soon, but I don't know when at the moment. Don't let the Muggles get you down!_**

**_Ron_**

_It was like they didn't need him at all. Ron sounded quite happy where he was. Dumbledore had stopped making eye contact with Harry since Voldemort's return. No one had even come to see him since the Dementor attack. It was like they were leaving him to drown in his misery. _

_Sirius and Remus had left him without a word as well, only giving him a brief hug and then walking away from him. They had each other, so why would anyone need Harry?_

_The grief and anger overwhelmed him. Maybe it would be better if he wasn't there. _

_Harry walked to the bathroom, where he opened the cabinet where Vernon's razor blades lay. He took one out, and walked to his bedroom, where he twirled the blade around in his hands, eyes unseeing. As if in a trance, he rested the blade on his wrist and ran it over his skin lightly. The tingle of adrenaline gave Harry fear and a thrill of daring. He put the blade back on his wrist and sliced deeply. He did the same thing to his other wrist and lay down so his death would come easier._

_*end flashback* _

—END TRIGGER WARNING—

He supposed someone magical had saved him, as he had woken up in the hospital wing. He, once again, tuned back into the conversation.

"...talk to him soon."

Pomfrey walked out of the office, Harry once again following. He just hoped Dumbledore didn't see him at all during that meeting.

_-000000000-_

**And... that's a wrap! I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I swear I'm going to work on the next update when this is published. This story has somehow written itself and has become a bit dark, not that I mind (that it's written itself) because the plot can move on a bit.**

**Anyway, I'm rambling there.**

**I'll try to update a bit more regularly from now on.**


	4. Avoidance

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (because if I did, the Cursed Child wouldn't exist)

_-0000000000-_

Now that Harry knew Dumbledore was going to try to talk to him, he spent all week skirting around him. He sat furthest away from Dumbledore at mealtimes, used the Marauders Map to avoid him, and took to hiding in the weirdest places. But then again, he mostly took to hiding in the Room of Requirement when he had no classes. Speaking of his classes... they all saw Harry become jumpier than usual. Harry _knew_ his classes and the teachers looked at him in concern, but he was too high-strung to care.

Sometimes, he ranted to Godric and Salazar about the unfairness of it all.

"I'm a member of staff!" Harry would whine. "I'm legally responsible for myself! I have already had this talk with practically the whole Order of the Phoenix, I don't want someone else to talk to me about my problems, I can deal with them myself!"

Godric and Salazar often spent time chatting in Old English, so Harry would not catch into what they were saying. After a few days of them arguing heatedly, Godric turned to Harry.

"We've finally come to a decision. We will talk to you about whatever you're going through, and we will not probe that much, but we will advise you as well, and you have to take that advice. Otherwise, we'll _make _you talk to Dumbledore. Do we have a deal?"

Harry grudgingly agreed, span on his heel and left the room. He was pretty sure he had a class to teach. However, his timetable said differently. A free period. What a wonderful time for Dumbledore to come and give a rendition of the Spanish Inquisition.

Harry fully intended to stay holed up in his rooms for the whole of the class period, but his wards flashed, indicating someone wanted to enter his rooms. Harry had a good idea of who it was. Cursing the fact that he didn't go to the room of requirement, he heaved himself to the door, and opened it, letting Dumbledore in.

"You're awfully good at avoidance," the Headmaster said softly.

Harry didn't say anything, knowing he would get to the point in a few moments. As he predicted, Dumbledore leaned forward and steepled his fingers.

"Madam Pomfrey has come to me with some suspicions, Harry."

_Of course she has, _Harry thought. _I was there._

"Oh?" Harry made his voice sound politely curious.

"I think you know what this is about."

"If it's... about _that_, I've already talked to people about it, and I'm fine," Harry said forcefully.

"If you're fine, then why don't you take off the glamours on your wrists?" Dumbledore said.

"I'd rather not," he replied coolly. "Now, I have lessons to plan, if you don't mind, headmaster."

Without waiting for Dumbledore to say anything, Harry disappeared into his bedroom. With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore put his head in his hands for a moment, then left, throwing a remorseful glance back at the portrait he knew guarded Harry's room. _I will find a way to help you yet, my boy._

_Break_

Harry was sitting at the head table, glumly playing with his food while staring down at his wrists. What Dumbledore had said was true and extremely disconcerting. He tried to think of all the reasons he didn't want to reveal what his forearms really looked like, but, to his chagrin, he couldn't really think of a reason. Harry sighed again.

"It's a Hogsmeade weekend this weekend," McGonagall spoke up softly. "Are you staying behind for this one? If not, I can swap with you. Heaven knows that I've spent too much time in Hogsmeade, and you haven't spent any time there, so I thought I'd give you the chance to go."

Harry swallowed the pitiful bite of food he was chewing repeatedly, which now tasted of cardboard. "It's okay, I'll stay behind for this one. I have some things to do anyway."

"Well, if you're sure..."

"I'm fine, don't worry about it."

In reality, Harry was itching to go flying. It would be the one thing that kept him sane, he mused. And the one thing he was really looking forward to. He would go flying this weekend because less students would be in the school, so less people would be around to spot him flying and doing his stunts.

_Break_

Harry was sure that his classes had noticed his demeanour go from nervous and jumpy to excited and on edge, but if they had, no one said anything.

He was just excited to feel the air again and be soaring through it, so much so that he had to restrain himself from bouncing in his seat, whenever he thought of the Hogsmeade visit. Luckily, he only had to wait for a couple of days before the weekend arrived.

Now it was Saturday, and the students were due to head off to Hogsmeade right after breakfast. Harry's firebolt (he had retrieved it from Professor McGonagall right at the end of the year because Sirius had insisted he did so otherwise he'd go himself) was shrunk and in his robe pocket.

"Are you sure you don't want to go, Harry?" Professor McGonagall asked again.

Harry shook his head. "Really, I'm fine. Thanks for your concern, though."

Finally it was the end of breakfast, and Harry stood up to see the students off. When the last student finally left, it was the teachers' time to go. It was only Harry and a few other teachers, along with the first and second year students. There were also a few sixth and seventh years for whom the novelty of Hogsmeade had worn off for in school. It was, in Harry's opinion, the best time to go flying.

He dumped his robe in the stands, and enlarged his firebolt. He clambered on and was off with a puff of displaced air. Harry was a blur in the air, performing loops, dives, and other stunts. He whooped in joy. He had missed this so much, and was relishing in the feeling of the air in his face and hair. He zoomed up and up, before turning a solid 180 degrees and diving straight down. He faintly registered someone screaming before he pulled out, his shoes skimming across the grass. He pulled to a stop, breathing heavily in triumph. He looked up at some sixth years with quidditch practice robes on coming towards him.

"Professor, that was _incredible_!" The Gryffindor quidditch captain said breathlessly. "Are you sure you can't be on the team?"

Harry laughed. "Unfortunately, boys, no."

"Are you sure you can't even give us some tips?" He asked hopefully.

"To be honest, I fly based on my instincts, so it just comes naturally. So I'm going to have to let you down on that as well. Sorry, boys!"

They looked disappointed, but quickly brushed it off. "Well, why don't you form a teachers team?"

"You're just trying to get me to play, aren't you?" Harry laughed.

"You bet!"

"I'll certainly bring it up during the next teachers' meeting. Now, if you'll excuse me, boys?"

Harry turned around to stride back inside, when the acrid smell of smoke began to waft over the grounds.

"Stay here boys, and take care of the younger students. I need to go and check out what's happening."

Without even waiting for an answer, Harry mounted his broom and flew at full speed towards Hogsmeade.

_-00000000-_

**Okay, I'm literally going to use a typical trope to make Harry's involvement in this story move on a little more: Hogsmeade in trouble and Harry mounts his broom to go and help. But I think I'm going to enjoy writing it in my own way.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	5. Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If so, I wouldn't be writing this story.

_-000000000-_

As Harry approached Hogsmeade, he heard a blast from the apothecary, and the heat could be felt from where he hovered on his broomstick, unsure of what to do. Harry felt inside his robes for anything he could use to let the kids get back to school safely, when he felt his invisibility cloak. Inspiration struck. He needed to get the students and innocents to Honeydukes so they could use the passage under it back to the school, or onto the path that led to Hogwarts, and what better thing to do than to cast a disillusionment charm on himself so he could banish the children in those directions? But first, he needed the Marauders.

Harry found the Marauders in the middle of the battle. He managed to get them away while under the disillusionment charm, and then he lifted it.

"I'm going to get the children and other innocents over to Honeydukes or the path leading to school, so I want some of you to get them through the secret passage, and some of them up to the school. Can you do that for me?"

The marauders looked astonished, but agreed readily.

Harry began his plan. He re-disillusioned himself and flung himself into the throes of the battle. He disarmed death eaters because they were taken by surprise, and he made sure not to stay in one spot so it looked like he was everywhere. He banished some people in the direction of Remus and Peter, who were waiting next to the path leading up to Hogwarts, and he banished some people in the direction of Honeydukes, where James and Sirius were waiting. Once he was sure that all of the innocents were out of the battle, he made his way over to where the highest ranking death eaters were. However, he found that they were torturing someone. A red-haired, green-eyed someone. Harry's breath hitched. _Lily_.

Harry was filled with such rage in such a short space of time that his magic started visibly swirling around him, removing his disillusion and making it look like he was covered in electricity. The death eaters cowered. Harry took out his wand, and pointed it at the death eaters. Like a wandless spell, energy came crackling out the end of his faithful holly and phoenix feather wand. It wrapped the death eaters in emerald green body binds, and lifted them into the air.

Harry ripped the left sleeve off each death eater and banished them to the ministry. His magic then wrapped gently around his mother and levitated her. All the other death eaters had gone back to Voldemort, as there were no more in Hogsmeade. He stalked over to James and Sirius, and told them to levitate her to the hospital wing. They complied immediately after seeing the energy still coming off their DADA teacher.

_Break_

After half an hour burning off steam in the forbidden forest, near the acromantula nest, Harry's vision began to swim. He collapsed to the floor, completely depleted of energy.

_-000000000-_

**Okay, I decided to give you all a bonus, very short chapter, because I had the motivation to - for a change. **

**Anyway. Basically, Harry's come in to his inheritance early, so he has the power of an adult. Because Harry had a whole lot of anger going through him from the Hogsmeade battle when he saw Lily being tortured, his anger peaked, because she's his mother, so his magic responded. So his raw power helped him to fight all of the high ranking death eaters off. Even if he's only 16. And it also recognised that Lily was an innocent and Harry is related to her, even in the future, so it reacted more gently to her. Does that make sense?**

**Okay. So please review, and I'll see you in the next (hopefully longer) chapter.**


	6. Sirius

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If so, Fred would be alive.

_-000000-_

Harry came to with a groan. "Where's the Hippogriff that trampled me?" he mumbled.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes. He was still lying on a pile of leaves in the same clearing as when he fainted. He heard frantic footsteps get nearer to the clearing he was in, but he did not move, or open his mouth again. It hurt too much to talk. It obviously meant someone was looking for him, and for quite some time if the darkening sky above him was anything to go by. Harry closed his eyes again, almost against his will, and let himself slip into a healing sleep. The last thing he heard was his name being called in relief and panic.

_Break_

"... asleep for 24 hours. Shouldn't he have woken up by now?"

The worried tones of someone familiar, yet not, was the first thing that assaulted Harry's senses as he slowly regained consciousness. The next thing was the sterile smell. _I'm in the hospital wing._ He tried to peel his eyes open, but couldn't, so settled for clenching his hand around the blanket. Unfortunately, the people around his bed didn't notice. With a mental sigh, he tried to wrench his eyes open once more, succeeded, and immediately whimpered and squeezed them shut again. This time, Madam Pomfrey _did _notice.

With a wave of her wand, she dimmed the lights, and Harry opened his eyes again.

"Hi," Harry mumbled as he took in everyone around the room (after he'd put on his glasses, of course).

There were most of the teaching staff, and the Marauders and Lily.

Immediately, the room descended into loud talking as everyone tried to ask Harry questions. He covered his ears and tried to shrink into the bed a bit more. Years of mistreatment at the Dursleys' hands had left Harry afraid of crowds who were making a large amount of noise. Pomfrey and Dumbledore (because they'd read his scan results) noticed his distress and Dumbledore silenced the room. They all stopped and took in Harry's form in the bed. Dumbledore then released the silencing spell after everyone's mouths were closed.

"Are you okay, my boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Harry replied after he'd come back up from the bed. He sounded vulnerable, and younger than his years.

"So, what happened? As far as I know, Professor Flitwick came into the infirmary a few hours after you'd gone missing, levitating you. He said he'd found you in the forest, in a clearing, with magical residue around you."

"I went to Hogsmeade because of the battle taking place, and I needed to take out my anger in the middle of the forest, because my magic got very volatile. After that, I passed out."

Dumbledore sighed. "I don't think that this is the best place for this conversation in particular. Get well soon, Harry, and when you are discharged, come and see me."

With that, he strode out of the hospital wing. The other teachers, the Marauders and Lily followed suit, each wishing Harry a good recovery, leaving him to the tender mercies of Madam Pomfrey. But Harry did not miss the contemplative look one Sirius Black gave him as he left. He'd have to talk to him soon.

_Break_

_Sirius' (short) POV_

People always call me the unobservant, most rash Marauder. But I notice things people don't. And as I visited the hospital wing, and by extension, Professor Remington, I noticed his jumpy behaviour. He tried to sink into the bed when the noise became too much, and he looked so _scared!_ It was like the behaviour that James and Remus said they noticed from me! If I am right, it means that Professor Remington could have been abused. And I fully intend to talk to him soon.

_Break_

_Normal POV_

"_Why _can't I leave now? I'm perfectly healthy, see?"

"You will not leave until I say so, Professor!"

"But-"

"No buts!"

If anyone walked into the hospital wing, they would see the defence professor pleading with one Madam Pomfrey who was stood akimbo, to let him go. It was a comical sight, which was why when Lily Evans walked into the hospital wing, she couldn't successfully hide her snort. The identical glares sent after her, though, made her wonder if the two weren't related. She gulped and stepped back. They were_ scary!_

"What do you need, Miss Evans?"

"I... came to say thank you. For saving me, I mean."

"I'm a teacher. That's my job."

"For some reason, while you were... saving me... I felt as if you were someone familiar. Someone who I've known for the longest time, but how can that be? You've only been our defence teacher since the start of the year and before that, I'm fairly certain that I've never met you..." Her voice trailed off from her musing, slightly sheepishly. She blushed.

"I assure you, Miss Evans, I am not related to you," Harry said lightly, even though he wanted to hug her and never let go. "It is possible that your magic only reacted to me that way because I was protecting you, as per my teacher role."

Inside, Harry desperately wanted Lily to know that she was his mother in the future and to be held by her. He desperately craved his mother's touch, even so now he was in the past. But he couldn't disrupt the time stream, as Hermione said to him in third year. He tuned back in to the conversation, but Lily was silent.

"Anything else, Miss Evans?" Harry asked, keeping formality.

"N-no, Professor. I'll go back to Gryffindor tower now. Get well soon, and thanks for saving me."

With that, she left. Harry felt an odd sense of mourning, as though he'd had a great opportunity and let it pass him by. Technically, that was what he had done.

_You'll never get to know your mother now,_ a treacherous voice whispered in his head. _She'll die in just a few years and she'll never know the truth._

Harry shook his head slightly and slumped back into the pillows. Madam Pomfrey frowned, and then left to go into her office.

_Break_

Later that night, as the castle was cloaked in darkness, a figure dispelled a disillusionment charm and stood in front of Harry's bed. He leaned forward and whispered, "Professor Remington?"

Harry awoke with a start. He took in the slim figure in front of him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Mr Black?"

Sirius gathered his nerve. After all, it wasn't called Gryffindor bravery for nothing.

"I- I was just wondering..."

"Why I reacted the way I did?"

"I've been in that position, Professor, and I want to ask: how old really _are _you, and... how bad was it?"

Harry looked at Sirius for a second, and then chuckled. "Perceptive, Mr Black." Then he sobered. "I must ask you to make a wizard's oath."

Sirius readily did so.

"Right... I'm 16. (Sirius spluttered. "What?! You're barely older than us!") And I'm going to tell you my story. I was raised by my parents until the age of one, where they were brutally murdered by dark wizards, but I survived somehow. My old mentor said it was my mother's love which caused a shield, which helped me survive. I was sent to magic hating relatives, who immediately put me in the cupboard under the stairs, where I lived for ten years. I was their miniature house elf, starved, did all the chores, and even had my head almost hit by a cast iron skillet once. I was not allowed to do better than my fat cousin in school or I got thrown into my cupboard. When I did accidental magic, I was starved. When I was eleven, I got accepted into a small academy down South called Pigfarts Academy for gifted witches and wizards. **(A/N a mention for anyone who guesses the reference) **I went there for five years, and came here to teach when it was imperative I got some real life, hands on experience with teaching, it's sort of like a work experience. Anyway, any questions will have to wait until tomorrow, Mr Black, I'm very tired."

Sirius practically fled, not even wanting to question the horrors of his young Professor's life.

**Okay, so that was a really rubbish chapter after all this time, I don't really have writing inspiration at the moment, which I know is really bad of me. Trust me, I do know what I'm going to do with this story, it's probably not going to be longer than 20 to 25 chapters long, but I will try to make the chapters longer, I promise. **

**Anyway, enough of the melodrama of my life, I promise I will try to update next Tuesday, because that's my day off. **

**Plenty of drama and angst coming up, I reckon! **


	7. Questions

I still don't own Harry Potter. I'd like to, though.

Without further ado, onto the story...

_-00000000-_

Harry was let go from the "dragon lady's" wrath, as he had so kindly dubbed Madam Pomfrey, the next morning. He made a beeline for his teaching quarters to wait for Sirius, as Harry knew he'd have a lot of questions about his childhood. True to form, Sirius came hurtling through the door in his first lesson, which was free for Sirius and for Harry too. Once Harry sat down the younger boy, he gestured for Sirius to ask a first question.

"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"I did go to some of my teachers in the school that I went to before Pigfarts, but they were silenced, and acted as if nothing was wrong. They didn't even look at me. In Pigfarts, I didn't go to anyone, because they had really high expectations of me, and I didn't want to let them down. I doubt they even would have believed me, anyway. The conversation would have gone like this: "Harry Remington, abused and neglected? He can't be!" Do you see why I couldn't go to anyone?" Harry sighed and looked Sirius in the eyes. "Anything else you need to ask?"

"That _was _the main question, but did you not have any friends you could go to?"

"I did, but after my fourth year, it was like they didn't need me. They ceased communication with me altogether, and I grew more depressed at the isolation. You see, I'd seen another boy die, and I did not have anyone to talk to. I-I had some really dark times. So, I'd say I did have friends, but I didn't have any to talk to. Now, one last question, and scram."

"That's terrible! If I had a son or a godson, I wouldn't do that to _them_!" Sirius said passionately. Harry almost laughed at the irony. "Anyway, I have no more questions, but you're only a couple of year older than us Marauders, you could talk to us if you needed to."

"Why, Mr Black, did you tell them how old I was?" Harry smirked.

"I mean, I wanted to, but I don't really want to break an oath that I swore on my magic, you see."

Harry and Sirius both laughed.

"Out you go, brat."

Sirius bowed his way out of the classroom. Once the door swung shut, Harry let out a sigh and dropped his head into his hands, ignoring the jolt of pain it sent through his neck, which was still slightly sore. He'd almost decided to ignore the consequences of messing with time and so he'd almost told Sirius he was from the future. It was like talking to his Godfather all over again, except he had to amend a few details, and he _understood _what Harry was going through. Because Harry knew from the future that Sirius was also going through neglect from his parents at this time of his childhood. Except he talked to McGonagall on a daily basis.

And of course, Godric and Salazar had to appear in their portraits and insist he told them everything, like a counselling session. Heck, it _was _a counselling session. Then, they moved on to the exciting stuff.

"We're going to teach you how to become an animagus!" Salazar sounded like a hyper child, which was so unlike him that Harry couldn't help but stare. At this, Salazar raised an eyebrow and said, "What? You don't expect me to be all serious every second of the day, _especially _when talking about animagi, do you?"

Harry's silence gave them his answer.

Because Salazar was hopping about his portrait like a toddler that had just eaten a bucketload of sugar, Godric took over the lesson for the time being.

"Firstly, I want you to shut your eyes and try and find your animal in your mindscape. I know you haven't been in your mindscape before, so you just have to meditate. It takes less time than you think."

Harry shut his eyes and focused on finding his mindscape with all of his willpower. Slowly, the room melted away, and was replaced by blankness. Harry figured this was his mindscape, because there were two figures coming towards him. One seemed to be padding towards him, and one seemed to be much smaller, and it was _flying_?

As the shapes came nearer and nearer, Harry recognised the shapes. One was a fox, often symbolised as being sly and cunning, and the other was a moth. Harry didn't have any idea what was going on. With a jerk, he fell out of the blankness, which had become more like a forest landscape as Harry identified the figures.

"Well?" Godric said excitedly. "You were gone for hours, I think four. You have missed lunch, and your only class of the day is in an hour."

"I saw a black fox-like animal and a dark grey moth. My mindscape turned into a forest as I saw them get closer. What does it mean?"

"It is more than likely it was a fox, if that is what you think. Foxes represent wisdom, magic, nature, stealth and cunning. Moths represent trust and an inner guidance. Now, we will go back into your mindscape after your lesson, and I want you to describe to us what each animal looks like, exactly," Salazar said, having broken out of his euphoria half an hour after Harry started meditating.

Harry looked at the clock and cursed. He had half an hour left, not an hour, until his next lesson, and everything was all over the place. His notes were strewn across the floor, and his bag was stuffed between his desk and the wall. Harry did not know how his rooms got into such a mess. He rushed around the room, wrenching his bag out of its hiding place, and stuffing papers into it. He knew they were the right notes as he looked up at his plan of lessons that was tacked up onto his wall, and _accio-_d his notes on the unforgivables. He hadn't had time to actually process what he had to teach, but now it caught up to him, and he walked out of the room in a sombre mood. The unforgivables would do that to anyone.

Harry had decided he would teach these curses to the fourth-years, as they were the same age as he when he had to learn about them. With a wave of his wand, the fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins walked in. Harry almost groaned. Of _course_ it was this class. It was going to be awful telling Lily, James, Alice and Frank their fates indirectly.

Harry started to pace in the front of his class. "The unforgivables."

Heads snapped in his direction, alarmed that a person so young would teach them about _those _curses.

Harry sighed again. "Who can tell me what one of the curses are?"

Bellatrix Black raised her hand. "The Imperius curse."

"Correct. As you can see, I will not be performing the curses, but an Auror will be coming in next lesson to show them to you. I will not be there in that lesson, because the Auror will be taking that lesson. Anyway. The Imperius curse is extremely dangerous, because the caster has full control over you. Total control. People have been asked to kill their family members, kill _themselves. _They could make you burn down this whole school, or your family home. And you can't do anything to stop it. You're floating in a haze, completely content, that nothing really _bad _could happen to you. Unless you fight it. The tiny voice in the back of your head, telling you that it's wrong to do what you're ordered to do, listen to it. Make sure you listen to that voice, and you will begin to fight the original voice."

The class stared at Harry in silence.

He cleared his throat. "What is the next one?"

Lily put up her hand. "The Cruciatus..." her voice trailed off.

Harry looked as if he was in the middle of some horrific memory. He shook his head slightly to clear it. "The... Cruciatus Curse. If it were to be described in a single word, it would be agony. It is like knives are piercing into every inch of your body, like you're going insane with no means of relief. It's like..." Harry shuddered. "People have gone insane under this curse. Please, never let it happen to you."

James put up his hand. "It- it sounds like _you _were under this curse."

Harry smiled faintly. "I was. Twice. I don't particularly want to talk about the specifics of that night. Now then. What's the last curse?"

The class looked thrown by his changing of the subject. Alice spoke up in a tiny voice,"Avada Kedavra."

Harry thought it was some cruel twist of fate that both Alice and Lily spoke of what would happen to each other.

"The killing curse. A flash of green light, and it's over. I have seen both my parents fall to this curse. I sincerely hope none of you ever lose anyone to this curse. You're dead before you hit the ground." A small tear ran down Harry's cheek as he turned away from the class to write on the board. "Write an essay for homework about the unforgivables, and how they can be used for harming people, but write about how they could be used for good as well. Class dismissed."

The class filed out, silently. When Harry turned to walk to dinner, he saw Sirius, James and Remus waiting for him. Before he could speak, James blurted out, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Professor." Sirius and Remus just gave him sorrowful looks, although Sirius a tad more intense, since he knew what happened afterwards to Harry. He actually understood how much that Avada Kedavra affected Harry's life.

Harry gave them a wan smile. "Let's get to dinner, shall we?"

_Break_

After dinner, Harry returned to his rooms and looked at Godric and Salazar expectantly. Salazar decided to let Harry explore his mindscape a little more, so allowed the boy to meditate.

In Harry's mindscape, he studied the animals intently. The fox was a jet black, with emerald green eyes, and a lightning bolt shaped tuft of fur just above his nose. He came to Harry, and allowed Harry to stroke him.

"You need a name," Harry mused. "How about... Shadow?"

The fox nudged Harry's hand happily. The moth, which was resting on Harry's finger, fluttered his wings. He was a dark grey, with black markings on his wings, and his main body was a lighter grey. On the tip of an antenna was a dark grey lightning bolt shape. His tiny eyes were emerald green. Harry stroked the moth's back with his thumb.

"And you need a name, too. Is Scout okay? I'll probably be using this form if I want to spy on Voldemort when I get back to the future, or if I need to get away."

The newly named Scout fluttered his wings contently. Suddenly, Shadow raised his head and sniffed. He caught Harry's sleeve and dragged him over to a pulsing black mass in the corner of his mind. Feelings of revulsion and anger poured from it. Harry decided to consult Godric and Salazar, but in the meantime wished that he could cover it with something. As if by magic, a mess of vines bound the mass and held it in place so it couldn't escape. Harry jerked himself back to the land of the living.

"Well?" Godric asked.

"I found a black mass in the corner of my mind..." Harry watched Salazar get angrier and angrier.

"What's the matter?"

"Only a fool who tried to create soul anchors, also known as horcruxes, would leave something like that inside a living being. To create a horcrux, you have to murder in cold blood and not regret it. Then, you can put a piece of your split soul, which is what you have if you murder someone, inside an object that has been prepared using lots of rituals. My guess is that he split his soul so many times, that when he murdered James and Lily and then you, his soul was so weakened, that a piece of it flew to you and attached itself to the scar on your forehead. That is probably what happened when you survived the killing curse and defeated Voldemort."

There was a quiet gasp from outside. Harry sent a silent stunner through the door, which was ajar, and followed it up with some body binds.

"So, how do we get the soul shard out of my head?"

"To destroy a horcrux, we would use the killing curse, or use fiendfyre or basilisk venom. But I don't think we would kill you, because I don't think you are a proper horcrux. For one, you haven't been properly prepared. For another, Voldemort didn't _plan _the horcrux, so it should be easier to destroy the soul shard and not you."

"R-right. Well, I'd better see who was listening in."

It was no surprise to Harry to see the Marauders.

"I'd better take care of this, then." Harry levitated the Marauders inside, and obliviated their knowledge of what they just learned. "You decided you were tired after dinner today, and you went to Gryffindor Tower, and then the kitchens." He called house elves to take them to the kitchens, give them their favourite food, and _enervate _them.

"That was close," Harry thought, as he collapsed into bed.

_-0000000-_

Omake:

It was no surprise to Harry to see the Marauders. It was a surprise, however, to see Professor McGonagall stunned and bound.

"Why do I have the worst luck?" Harry whined. "I'd better take care of this."

He levitated them all into desk chairs in his office.

_-0000000-_

**I updated on time! No one has actually taken a guess to the Pigfarts reference (*sigh*). **

**I realise it would take longer to get into your mindscape, but Harry isn't protecting his mind yet, he just wanted to see who his animagus (or animagi) forms were, so he concentrated on that, and got into his mindscape more easily.**

**That, and I need to move this story along. It will definitely be 25 chapters long. I actually planned what I'll put in them xD**

**I also have great plans for Harry's moth form. His fox form will come out to play sometimes, too. The symbolism for each form has been searched on the internet, so I know it's correct.**

**Anyway, until next time! :)**


	8. Horcruxes

I don't own Harry Potter. That is, unless I polyjuice into JK Rowling.

_-00000000-_

Harry was rudely awoken, yet again, by Salazar and Godric. There was an air of anticipation around them as Harry blinked confusedly at them.

"Wha-"

Godric started speaking. "It's 4am at the moment, and so it's the perfect time for what we want to do with you. We can't think of ways to get rid of the soul piece, and we want it out as soon as possible. Therefore, we want you to go into your mindscape and try to expel that soul piece. It will probably take half an hour at the minimum, and you will probably be unconscious for a couple of hours afterwards. Are you ready to try this?"

"Uh... sure."

"Don't perish in your own mind," Salazar warned.

"Well, that didn't sound ominous at all," Harry thought.

He meditated dutifully, and found himself in front of the soul piece. It stood in front of him, trying to struggle through its bonds. Harry took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._

Harry clapped his hands once. The bonds surrounding the soul piece drifted away. It lunged at Harry. Harry held out his hands, trying to dematerialise the shard. Its outline faded slightly. Harry, feeling heartened, pushed more magic into it, trying to make it fade entirely. It struggled against the pure magic of Harry's mind, but Harry did not desist. The soul shard seemed to glow a little more every second, as if it was dissolving slowly. Beads of sweat appeared on Harry's forehead, but Harry pushed more and more magic into it, and it flashed. Harry saw it dissolve entirely as he lost consciousness.

In the physical world, Godric and Salazar watched as Harry's body crumpled to the floor. Godric turned to Salazar.

"How long did you say he'd be out for?"

"... I didn't."

"Well?"

Salazar looked slightly sheepish at this. "I... er... neverreallyfoundout?"

Godric facepalmed in the portrait.

_Break _

Harry awoke a couple of hours later. He groaned and tried to sit up, only to find he couldn't move a single muscle in his body.

"Was this meant to happen?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

"We don't exactly _know_," Godric replied.

Harry wished he could move and use a Parseltongue spell to throttle the two Founders. Outwardly, he grimaced, and resolved to not being able to move for half an hour at the very least. At least, that's how long it felt it was going to be to him.

_Break_

Harry was currently singing _1000 green bottles on a wall _in his head.

"952 green bottles hanging on a wall, 952 green bottles hanging on a wall, and if one green bottle should accidentally fall, they'll be 951 green bottles hanging on the wall. 951 green bottles..."

Harry kept on singing until he reached about 805 bottles. Then he grew bored and decided to see if he could move. He couldn't.

"Fine, let's sing a different song."

Harry proceeded to make his way through _I Am The __Music Man, The Grand Old Duke Of York, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. He sang them all repeatedly, and tried to move his limbs after each rendition of the song. He had just finished his rendition of the last song, complete with rock instruments, when he found he could move his arms and legs. _

Harry spent a few minutes reacquainting himself with the use of his limbs and other muscles, and then stood up and shouted "WOOHOO!"

Godric and Salazar stared, bemused, after the young man who made his way out of his quarters while singing a remix of _Baa Baa Black Sheep._

_Break_

Harry entered the Great Hall in a pleasant mood after a stroll around the castle. It was now lunchtime, he had no soul shard in his head, leaving his thoughts to be that much clearer, and he could finally start a real form of magic - he decided he wanted to start with Occlumency first, but he didn't know if the two Founders would approve. Speaking of the Founders...

Harry looked over at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables on either side of the Hall, then he remembered all of Godric and Salazar's banter in their portrait, the best of friends. How did the two Houses get so segregated? Harry shook his head, and decided he'd think about it much much later, presumably when he got back to his own time. For now, Harry had lunch to look forward to, and he'd done a lot of work for the day.

Harry did not realise he was still whistling a rendition of _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star _(the version he'd liked the most) until Professor McGonagall leaned over.

"Why are you whistling a Muggle nursery rhyme?"

Harry stopped whistling then and tucked into his lunch. The House Elves had sent up a plate of the food he liked to eat, so he didn't have to move his arms much, as they were still slightly stiff. Thank you, House Elves!

_Break_

Harry spent an enjoyable few hours with the Third Years where he taught them mostly theory while sitting at his desk, relaxing his sore muscles. It was Ravenclaws and Slytherins, so they did not probe, and they contented themselves in quiet partner study. Harry wondered why he wasn't in one of those Houses, because they seemed the type to have a 'live and let live' mentality, which was what he needed all the time. Also, they seemed the type to study the most and get good grades, which, Harry realised belatedly, would help him fight Voldemort with a larger repertoire of spells. Gryffindors seemed to live off good luck, and Hufflepuff... they were known for hard work, weren't they? But then again, they were always the first to go against him. So why didn't he go to Ravenclaw or Slytherin? He used to love hard work and getting good grades... until he went to Hogwarts. Was it a spell that made him more impulsive and made him do less hard work? He'd have to see. When he got back, of course.

At this point, the bell rang. The students flooded out of the classroom, while Harry followed at a more sedate pace. It was time for dinner. No use thinking on an empty stomach.

_Break_

The House Elves had, once again, sent Harry a dish of ready-served food. It looked like they realised that his muscles were still sore. They probably would be for a couple of days.

A sudden commotion saw a black eagle with red eyes swoop down and drop a black letter in front of Harry, then fly back out of the Hall. Harry prodded it open with the tip of his wand. The letter bore two words.

_Join us_.

Harry set the letter on fire. He knew who it was, and he'd be damned if he'd join his parents' murderer. He abruptly stood up and walked out of the Hall, his legs screaming in protest at his sudden movement. Now was a good time for that bath.

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**A (kinda) regular update. But yeah, I updated! Nothing is going to come out of that letter though - or is it?**

**Anyway, what do you think? I won't update next week, because I won't have my iPad, which I normally write on because it keeps all my formatting, whereas my phone and laptop don't for some reason /**

**So enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you all in a fortnight if I update :)**


	9. Animagi

I still don't own Harry Potter. Otherwise everyone would be an animagus.

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In between Harry's lessons with the Hogwarts students, he marked and gave out homework, gave and took points - mainly from the Gryffindor Slytherin classes - and continued his lessons where he learned from the two Founders. All in all, Harry was getting very run down, and he had taken to wearing concealing charms to hide the tiredness he saw in every line of his face. He thought he might need a time-turner soon. Regardless, he was very pleased with his progress.

In Godric and Salazar's classes, Harry had been diligently practicing his animagus forms under their watchful eye. They would spend an hour on each animal every day, since he might need both forms at some point in the future.

His fox form would be very fast and agile, ideal for outrunning people, and his moth form was very inconspicuous, so he could go into households and just be there, as long as he stayed out of sight.

So far, he could turn three of his limbs into paws, and he could turn his nose into a snout. With this, he gained a new sense of smell, which was more enhanced, and he had to spend a few days readjusting to the smells that almost overwhelmed him in the Great Hall.

He could also grow wings and shrink his arms a little. It was good for flying because he could just grow his wings and jump out the window, no broom needed. He had been practicing flying with his new wings and it gave him a lot more freedom.

In the light of Harry's office, he was practicing turning his other leg into a paw. Thin patches of fur had sprouted on his leg, and his toe pads were just starting to peek out. With a sudden bout of concentration, his leg had transformed. Harry whooped, and the Founders clapped.

"Well done, Harry!" Godric said. "At this rate, you should be able to complete one of your transformations by Christmas. Now, finish marking those papers, and off to bed with you."

Harry tiredly nodded, and trudged to his desk, skimming over the quiz that one of his students had submitted and correcting it as needed. Within five minutes, he had done the last two papers, and he dragged himself to bed.

_Break_

The next day, Harry was too tired to even get out of bed. With great strength of will, he stumbled to the shower to have a cold shower, effectively waking him up. A pepper up potion was still needed, so he flopped on his bed and lazily stretched out a hand to open his trunk.

"Accio Pepper up potion," Harry said, when the lid was open. The requested potion zoomed into his hand and he drank it down. Steam came out of his ears, but Harry felt energised, yet he thought something did not feel right. There had to be something that he was forgetting... "The full moon!" He said out loud.

Resolving to just do book work today, Harry stepped out of his rooms.

_Break_

Harry had looked at Remus several times at meals, and he looked more weary each time Harry saw him. Harry disillusioned a pepper up potion and sent it levitating over to Remus. Harry lifted the disillusionment charm when the potion was somewhere Remus could see it. He had also included a note which said,

_Mr Lupin,_

_Please take the pepper up potion. It will make you feel more awake._

_Professor Remington_

Remus looked up at Harry in confusion, and Harry gestured towards the potion with his chin. He obediently drank it, and looked more awake. Harry gave him a thumbs up.

After dinner, Harry went back to his rooms, where they started with the fox transformation again. Harry transformed his limbs, and then his nose. He then started to work on his ears. It would give him a superior sense of hearing. A bout of concentration and sending a bit of magic to his ears, there was a pop, and then he could hear students laughing a few corridors away. He could also hear a howl of pain, as loud as it would have been if Moony was standing next to him. A bark and a grunt, which Harry assumed was James followed. A small squeak was also heard.

Harry stood at the window, watching the four animals frolick in the distance, a tear slowly making a glistening trail down his cheek.

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**A chapter! Sorry I was not online for so long, but here's a short(ish) chapter to tide you by. Obviously I will try not to take like two months again, but I'm sticking to my chapter plan, and will bring you chapter ten in... I don't know.**

** But stick with me, and I'll try to have more motivation soon :)**

**Luna Lupin-Black.**


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